Smart Shopping: Stretching a Wardrobe

WSVN -- From onesies to Ts to jeans, shopping for kids takes effort if you want to save big.

Karen Bazan: "I find that when they are so young, and they are growing so fast, it's really not worth it to spend a bundle on their clothes because they grow out of it so quickly."

Karen Bazan is a mother of three who learned how to shop smart by accident.

Karen Bazan: "In the beginning, I didn't find out what the gender was, so from zero to six months everything was pretty much neutral colors."

And that saved her a bundle for babies two and three. Because the clothes were gender neutral, she could use them on her other children. Karen says baby stuff should be saved if you can.

Karen: "I use the space savers. That way, you put them away, and you can share them whether they are boys or whether they are girls."

Karen also tries to shop discount stores like Target, which always has some sort of kids clothes on sale.

Jaime Howard, Target: "We do have a lot of new value signing, so if you see anything that says wow, there's usually a deal on those tables right now."

Basics like jeans and Ts should only be bought on sale.

Karen Bazan: "You can always mix and match."

Another great tip, shop for clothes out of season, so get summer wear in fall and winter outfits in spring.

Karen Bazan: "What you do is you calculate the age of the child, and you buy accordingly."

Karen says this saves her 50 to 75 percent.

Karen Bazan: "I bought it a year ago, the original price was $10, and I got it for $2.48."

Also, to stretch your child's wardrobe, be careful with how you do laundry. Try washing the dark clothes together and the light clothes together and read the labels. Different fabrics have different rules.

Karen: "It depends on what type of fabric you are using. I usually hand wash it or line dry, and that saves the clothes. It makes them last a lot longer."

And finally, don't worry about small tears. If you can't do a quick mend, your local dry cleaner can probably fix it for a lot less than a whole new outfit.